No one can take away your hopes and dreams
by whereintheworldaremyshoes
Summary: Draco is acting odd. Hermioneodd too. School trip, mysterious gifts, and reluctance to show feelings... Ch. 7 up!
1. The way home

"Oof! Watch it!" I wince, brush my brown hair out of my face, and pick up my dropped baggage. And hear a snicker followed by a drawling voice,

"I'd rather kick a football than watch where I'm going Granger....especially around a mudblood."

Snickering, I retort, "You would lower yourself to playing 'Vulgar muggle games'?"

Heat colored his voice as he retorted, "You watch it. Nowadays, that You-Know-Who is around, you don't know who you can trust."

"And she needs to because.....?" Looking up, I drop my bags again and throw my arms around Harry. Backing away I hear, "Where's Weasel? Did he miss the the train again?" Finally turning around I look into cool grey eyes. "If you weren't too busy looking over your nose you would see that he's right there." And I point to a group of unmistakeable redheads, managing a rude gesture to him while doing so. The tallest of the group spots Harry and me, yells, "Hullo Harry! Say, Hermione..." and then curses as he drops his cage, which erupts into a twittering and hooting that was heard above the crowd at Platform 9 3/4.

"Bloody pigeon," Ron mutters still struggling with his luggage as he finally gets to us. As I see Malfoy starting to make a response I proclaim,

"Glad summer's over. We can use magic again! I've been practicing hexes....." When saying that, I shoot a look over at Malfoy. The clear morning sun highlights his blond hair, unmistakeable grey eyes, and tan? "Remember what those did a couple of years ago? That was......"

WHOOOOOOOT!

Grimacing I pick up my baggage again and remark to Harry, "If that gets any louder, we'll all go deaf. What a way to start the year! I wouldn't be able to take notes..." While saying so, we all shuffle into a line and hear Ron remark, "Want to to buy Hermione a pair of those ear-thingummies Harry?" Then a certain tall someone treds on the hem of my robes causing me to stumble. And cuts in front of me.

"See you Harry! We'll come around on our patrols." Readjusting my Head Girl Badge I make a face at Ron and say, "I still can't believe that you didn't get Head Boy." And continue onto my lecture of how he should have behaved the first four years so that he would have been.

In the jostling I nearly miss the,

"Well Granger, we're stuck together." Sitting down between the Head Boy (Guess who.) and Roger Davies, I reply, "What jolly great fun we'll have." And leave it at that. And stand up again amidst the snickers of the other prefects.

"Well this year, we're doing something different. There is no Yule Ball pause for the groans but something else. A school trip." A collective gasp went around. I continue, "It's for fifth years and above. Now that most of you are sixth years," I gesture to a packed group of people, "and some are fifth years...Welcome." A smattering of applause fills in the space I leave, "As you know this takes great planning." Pulling out my wand, I construct diagrams filled with names of the prefects and group titles. "There are planning sessions that will consist of...." His emotionless, almost bored voice interripted, "Your working together with other houses." As the prefects glanced at each other he continued, "There will be evenings that we will get together and plan in groups....Which the Ministry of Magic states, '....Will encourage the different houses to work together, such as when a time comes that they will have to bond together against He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named.'" As the Slytherins smirked at one another, Malfoy continued tonelessly,

"Etcetera. Okay, meeting's over. Go patrol the cars to keep magical outbreaks from happening. You might as well go with your group members to 'Get to know them'" As people crowded around the one diagram, I pinched Malfoy on the arm. "You know what? I've spent most of the summer planning how to say that....."

"And probably would have talked for another hour before you got to your point." Smiling with smugly, he continued, "It was more of a 'Let's get this over with shall we?' thing. Suppose you didn't notice your group members......"

DOES THIS GUY DO OCCLUMENCY? As he sauntered away, (NICE BUM...what the?) I took deep breaths. At the insistent tugging of Ron, we did our patrols with Terry Boot and Padma Patil, pausing to break up a fighting Gryffindor and Slytherin (confiscating the FRED&GEORGEW prank wands), and dealt with the issue of an overflowing toilet. But the time we reached the car with Harry, Luna, Ginny, and Neville, I was slightly nauseous from the swaying of the train, and the not-quite-right-tasting chocolate frog I had been offered by Ron.

"Bloody Geezes Harry, you wouldn't believe the jolly old fun we've been having." Ron sighed exasperated. "A hexed toilet, do you believe that? And that blasted Blaise Zambini just can't leave Dennis Creevey alone. I swear, if we have to break those two up again, we'll have to have a bloody patrol who follows them. Too bad we can't deduct points,"

"If we could deduct points Weasel, we wouldn't have to worry about the Gryffindors winning the House cup would we?" And there stood Wonderboy flanked by his two bodyguards.

"Are Crabbe and Goyle your left and right arms?" I blurted before thinking about what I had just implied.

"No, just your worst nightmares." Came the cliché back.

"Malfoy, that is so old. Just go, we don't need your sniveling face in our car." Harry stood up and walked up to him. Their noses almost touching, there was hardly a difference between their stances. As Harry's jet black hair stood up in clumps, Malfoy's was slicked down with who knows what. As the tension tightened almost visibly between them, Crabbe and Goyle advanced. I sighed and stuck out my foot. And heard Goyle fall closely followed by Crabbe. As Malfoy whipped around to threaten me I muttered,

"What's your problem? Afraid you'll lose your balance without your two arms?" I knew it was a lame crack, and so did he. He gave me one last icy glare (did it reach his eyes?) and snapped to the two mountains of flesh struggling to get up off the floor,

"Get up you buffoons....we have work to do." As he swept out of the room, the train puttered to a stop and the final whistle signified our arrival at Hogwarts.

"What happened to you this summer Hermione? Oh bloody hell where's Trevor? " Neville asked surveying our train car.

"Cat got my tongue." Was all I answered.

We stepped off the train to another year of Hogwarts.....little did we know what was being planned right that moment.

-In a cave not far enough away-

"My Lord, I will have my son confirmed as a death eater at Spring Equinox." A flash of blonde hair appeared in the moonlight, soon followed by a black cloaked figure bowing and the cold click of the Death Eater's heels along the floor. As soon as he left the room, a cruel high voice intoned,

"Good. Where is Avery? He was informing me of a trip. Hogwarts. This WILL be the end of Harry Potter and his comrades. Time to end this once and for all......."

**My first chapter of my first fanfic. I will write the continuation as soon as I can. What will happen next? Maybe with something with Dobby and havoc in the Great Hall...... Please R&R.**

_whereintheworldaremyshoes_


	2. Ghosts and Firebolts

**Second chapter.....sorry hardly any Draco. And to Leithenindel, I know that the head people are seventh year but this year they made an exception....None of the 7th years were ready :-D.**

"Firs' years this way!Firs' years this way! Hullo Harry, an 'ermione. Where's that red headed comrade of yours?"

Harry and I grinned. Ron had 'accidentally' left Pigwideon in the compartment. "How's everything Hagrid?" I questioned when we finally reached his hearing range. From the uncomfortable silence that followed, everything wasn't good. Lowering his voice and leaning down (did we grow?) so that we could only hear, he murmured,

"Hate to tell ya but the giants finally acted this summer. Wasn't such a good thing....wreaked havoc for the Ministry all summer. Members of the ministry went missing.....some found insane, jabbering and 'soulless'. Weren't only the giants who done action....dementor sightings have been reported. Dumbledore already...."

"Well if it isn't the overgrown halfling. Raised any dragons lately?" Hagrid stiffened, flushed and muttered something that was unintelligible. "Pardon me?" repeated the speaker.

"Nothin'" muttered Hagrid before he straightened up again and repeated his call, with the first years looking frightened and anxious. Whipping around I glared at Malfoy who smirked and said,

"What, had a little trouble hearing the conversation? I can repeat it word for word...." he trailed away, turned around and disappeared into the crowd. Finally taking a moment to calm myself I felt a shaking next to me and turned around to see Harry trembling with anger.

"Calm down. He's being such a git this year."

"Hey Hermione! Help me with this darn bird!" I sighed and helped Ron load his cage into the carriage while Harry stopped to pat the thestrels. Finally, when everyone was done with their last minute arrangements, the carriages started with a jolt. Harry, facing the window, sighed.

"What's wrong pixies got your tongue?" I grimaced at Ron's lack of tact and elbowed him.

"Hush Ron!" Lowering my voice I whispered, "Give him time over Sirius you dolt!" Ron's mouth formed an 'o' and he shut up.

While the carriage rattled nearer and nearer to the castle, I kept shooting anxious glances at Harry and Ron, and then finally, gave up and looked out the window.

It was a glorious night. The dark path ahead of us swayed with the lights of the previous carriages looking like trapped fireflies in a jar. The occasional slap of the lake against its shores drew my attention to the bobbing boats. I heard a "Splash!" jerking me out of my contemplation. As I dimly heard Hagrid say,

"Gotcha. Tol' you to stay away from th' side." I grinned and turned my attention to the silent statues I had for companions. Finally, we came to a halt outside of the castle.

Scrambling to get out and retrieve my wand, Ron and Harry sat glumly until I popped my head into the carriage and said,

"Guys. There's food. Come on!" That jerked Ron out of wherever he had been and Harry looked at me bleakly. Without turning around to see if they followed, I hurried into the hall right next to Luna. Then,

"Sir! Harry Potter, sir!" Twirling around to see if Harry was really near the entrance of the hall, I saw a house-elf head, covered in many bobble knitted caps, which I recognized as my previous year's work. So that's where they all went....

"Yes Dobby?" Harry sighed.

"Sir, I just wanted to say Gryffindor room is much different this year! Rooms changed. Yes, sir, Dobby put your luggage there already. New people coming. Dear oh dear, must get back to...."

Dobby never finished his sentence. Peeves had appeared, wielding a rather familiar-looking broom. Oh bloody hell....it was Harry's _firebolt_. Dobby saw this too, just as Harry reacted.

"Peeves! Give my broom back! NO!" Harry cried as Peeves drew back his transparent arm back to throw it. Just then Dobby stepped forward.

"Bad ghost will put down Harry Potter's broom. Bad, noisy, ghost will listen or else."

Peeves cackled, "Or else what? What can a meddling traitor elf do to me? Kill me? I'm dead!" then threw Harry's broom. As I watched in horror, I heard someone mutter, "_Accio broom!_" It flew straight into Harry's hands just as Dobby let out a yell and there was a crack! In the midst of it all I heard someone say, "You owe me big Harry." Was it that cool smug voice from earlier? I didn't think about it then because

PEEVES HAD DISAPPEARED.

"What is going on here? Where has Peeves gone? You!" Turning, I saw Professor McGonagall striding towards me followed by a straggling group of first years.

"Hermione! Where is Peeves? Who is the perpetrator of this deed?" I raised my finger and pointed to the trembling house elf. "Surely you are joking! Now, now, what did you do with Peeves?" Dobby mumbled something. "Please speak up Dobby." Even with the crowd silent, and the occasional clatter of the plates in the Great Hall, Dobby's whisper didn't penetrate the crowd.

There was a snicker. "Peeves is in the lake?" McGonagall nodded. Then her eyes widened. "With no hair whatsoever? And mute? Goodness what did he do? Oh." Nodding her head in satisfaction McGonagall turned to the crowd and said, "No one is to ever speak of this in front of Peeves or he'll do what Poltergeists do best---wreak havoc. Now everyone go to your House tables and first years come with me!"

As the first years shuffled along in a line in their dark Hogwarts cloak, we entered the Great Hall. As the ceiling flickered with lightning, the welcome site of it took my breath away. The long tables were still their dark lovely brown, and the candles that were floating in midair were extra bright as we entered from the dark hall. The stain glass windows flickered with hidden light, and at the head table, in the middle, there sat Dumbledore.

By golly, he looked older, strained. But as we entered his eyes lit up with the famous sparkle of blue and his face relaxed. Snape looked his same old threatening self, his hair a bit shorter from last year and his normally narrowed eyes jumping from teacher to teacher, as if he expected them to yell out that, "Snape is a Death Eater!" Hagrid emerged from the side room, a bit damp, but still with his famous ruddy complexion, and his sparkling black eyes all hidden under a beard. Then there was Professor Sprout, Madame Pomfrey, and the New Defense Against the Dark Arts? Not so new.....thank god for Professor Lupin! As the Great hall doors clanged shut, McGonagall put the Sorting Hat on the Stool. What would it sing this year? It opened its brim and started,

_"It was a time of deep dark secrets,_

_A time of fear and darkness too,_

_A time without Hogwarts and prefects,_

_A time that had nothing due._

_Many wizards feared another,_

_Hiding, waiting, betraying, hating,_

_No one trusted like a brother,_

_When four wizards came forth stating,_

_'We need to form a school_

_With young ones with talent,_

_Teach them to defend and duel,_

_And the true meaning of the word gallant.'_

_These four formed this school,_

_With the four houses of each,_

_Forming friendships between wise and fool,_

_Not learning just lessons of rhyme and speech._

_Wise Ravenclaw chose the brightest,_

_Gryffindor chose the bravest,_

_Slytherin chose the mightiest,_

_Which left Hufflepuff with all the rest._

_Whether you are brave or sure,_

_Caring or wise,_

_We're the mixing pot which I stir,_

_And break through what's in disguise._

_Now step forward and put me on,_

_And learn about each other,_

_I'll put you where you belong,_

_So that one day you unite and stay together._

A hush filled the hall, unsure whether what the tattered, black hat sang was true. As McGonagall (not the least bit perturbed) pulled open the scroll and read out the names, Harry had snapped out of his trance. I whispered, "Do you understand what the hat said? It's warning us that we have to stick together..."

"Doh Hermione." Interrupted Ron. "Where's the food?"

Dumbledore stood up. Raising his arms he spoke. "Welcome one and all to a new year! Some beginning of the year announcements to make. First of all, NO ONE is allowed in the Forbidden Forest," He flashed a look at Lee Jordan and his colleagues, "And Mr. Filch has kindly reminded me about his list of Forbidden objects in the hallways. If you want to see the complete list, it covers his office door," There was a flash of amusement in his eyes, "And lastly, Buttercup whiz!" With that, platters of food appeared on the table. Ron was soon lost in the piles of food, which were on ceramic platters. As I looked closer, I realized that the plates were magicked to stay warm, and that the goblets on the table were charmed to refill. That's when I felt a premonition of someone watching me. Looking up from my plate, my eyes met cool grey slate eyes which quickly returned to his plate. How long had he been watching me?

Then I noticed that Harry had very little on his plate. "Goodness Harry! Eat something. No, don't just spoon around your food on your plate to look like you ate something!" Harry's glum face brightened for a moment before returning to its unusually pale visage. Harry was slowly turning into a ghost. I thought for a minute and said sweetly, "Of course, if you aren't strong or fit enough to play quidditch, I could always talk to Ginny (who was that years captain)." He grimaced but started to spoon his normal serving onto his plate. That's more like it..... I felt that gaze on me again.

God! What was wrong with Malfoy? Do I have a bit of mashed potato on my hair? Malfoy grinned a smug smile just as he pointed to something on his forehead. Jerk! He had noticed my zit....well no one's perfect. As the last minute belches (gross) and clattering of utensils on their plates finished, Dumbledore stood up again.

"First years, please follow your prefects," Who had just stood up, "And students, have a good night's rest for learning begins tomorrow!" A collective groan went up and everyone started to leave their seats.

Fifteen minutes later, I flopped into the warm, maroon couch in the Gryffindor Common Room moaning, "Bloody hell. What is up with this Head Girl business? I must have talked to more than half the staff about that darned trip." As everything faded, my last thought was, "Where was Malfoy? He was supposed to help me with that briefing."

"Enter Avery." A cold wind whipped through the room as a cloaked Death Eater stepped into the room. "Have you completed your plans?"

"Yes My Lord." Came the answer from the dark cowl. The unlit room made Avery uneasy. The large snake was gone from its normal position, and as the thin, white spiderlike hands drummed its fingers with impatience, Avery's palms began to sweat.

"Has our spy infiltrated the castle yet?" The cold voice suddenly went deadly.

"Yes My Lord. It wasn't as hard as I predicted. The disguised spy is now working in the kitchens, and as you suggested My Lord, the spy has an occupation that will allow him to travel freely throughout the castle." There was a silence before,  
"Very good. You may leave now Avery. I don't expect you back until you have information on this school trip." As the Death Eater bowed and walked out of the room, Voldemort stood up from his chair.

"Wormtail." A short sniveling man appeared from the darkness playing with a twig in his glove-white hand. "Have that man tracked. I do not trust him anymore. There was a lie hidden in his words."

"Yes Milord."

"Have you contacted your son yet?" Another Death Eater stepped out of the shadows. With the moonlight glinting on his ringed hand, he answered,

"No Milord. However, I will send an owl tonight to get your answer." Voldemort let out a rattling breath,

"Very well. Leave me!" As Wormtail and the Death Eater left the room, Voldemort looked out his windows. Like the giants, he hid in the mountains. Right outside of Hogsmeade. The lake glinted in his looking glass, and the peaceful village sparkled on the horizon. He nodded. Things were going as planned, and they would soon have another Death Eater join their ranks.

**Oooooooo. What is wrong with Harry? Is it more than depression? Is Malfoy irritating Hermione on purpose or is there more? What will happen when Peeves returns? R&R please!**

_whereintheworldaremyshoes_


	3. Tantrums and Roses

**Okay, so here the story follows.**

**It's also about time I put a disclaimer: I don't own these characters...just borrowing them. It's all Ms. Rowling's...**

CRASH! I winced and formed a guess about what had just happened. Peeves had returned. Oh bloody hell. BANG! BOOM! SHATTER! I guess he was really upset....

"Peeves you will stop that right away!" yelled Professor McGonagall, three stories below the Gryffindor Common Room window. From the window, I saw the flying vase answering her command. "PEEVES!" A door slammed and the mantlepiece candlesticks trembled from the force of her slam. As the crashing and shouting continued, I scratched another sentence onto my parchment. Snape had assigned a four foot long essay about the properties of mint and their use in potions. Why did he have to assign something that difficult? My books were stacked around the table, and a page fluttered in an unnoticable wind. I glanced around.

There were groups of cackling first years, quietly conversing seventh years, and no sixth years. Where did Ron and Harry go? Where were all the sixth years? Oh, quidditch practice. Sighing I continued my essay until,

BANG! "PEEVES! Get out of this hallway!" ....Uh oh. A squeal came from the Pink Lady as a statue came ripping through her tapestry into our common room, shattering on impact. An angry, hairless Peeves barged in. Evilly grinning, he wreaked havoc, dropping cream dipped strawberrys on the group of squealing first years, pulling the seventh graders' hair, and spraying an ink bottle all over the upholstery in the room. As he was swooping around the room and distracting us, I noticed a ripple in the air and an unknown breeze. However, I was hurriedly ink-proofing my essay as he continued to dump ink all over. As quickly as he had entered, he left, trailing a piece of canvas, just as Professor McGonagall burst in, pink from the exertion of chasing Peeves.

"Oh my....PEEVES!" With a quick jerk of her head, she signalled me to follow as she started to stride down the hallway to Dumbledore's office.

Trotting to keep up with her, I heard footsteps following? The sensation disappated as we turned past the staircase that led to the dungeons, and finally catching up to her, I said, "Yes Professor?"

"Ms. Granger, please help clean up the mess in your common room. If you follow the stairs to the tower, you'll see a door open. That is the Hufflepuff's common room....lend your assistance if they need it. That will be all." Her curt instructions left me filled with a sense of duty. Striding back to the common room, I surveyed the damage. The furniture was ripped, and dripping with ink. Sighing, I instructed the first years to remove the stains, and waved my wand over the ripped upholstery. As groups were assigned to straighten up the overturned furniture, and house elves started to appear to clean up the strawberries, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Alexandra (a fourth year) walked into the room, sweat soaked and tired.

"What the hell happened here Hermione?" demanded Ginny.

"Peeves." I swept out of the room just as Alexandra burst into laughter. I'm glad someone has a sense of humor about all of this. Following the staircase, I paused at the specific door, peeping in. The Hufflepuffs were already in order and straightening up their common room. A group of them, carrying empty frames containing ripped canvases, surged past me. Grimacing, I nodded to the prefects and started the descent to the hallway where the Gryffindor house was.

As I wearily climbed in the entrance, and walked up the staircase, through the door to the dormitories I shared, an odd sight greeted me. A group of girls were around my bed giggling and whispering.

"What is going on here?" They gasped and burst into giggles when they saw it was me. Pointing, Parvati grinned. Roses, a dozen of them, lay on my bed.

**Huh? What's going on? Is Hermione imagining things? Where did the roses come from? I guess R&R...**

_whereintheworldaremyshoes_


	4. Temper, Temper

What the? Where did those roses come from? As each girl slowly left the room there was a wink or a question: "Who is it from?"

I, for one, was completely clueless. Viktor was in America and we had broken it off years ago. Ron was too bashful, Harry was now head-over-heels for Alexandra, and every other guy thought I was just some brain. As I slowly approached my now-rumpled up bed, the last girl had drifted out of the spacious, now light-filled room. Slumping down onto my bed, I carefully looked through the roses, for any note or indication of who it was from. As I suspected, the girls had thoroughly combed through them looking for such a thing as well. Sighing, I got up, removed the roses from my bed into a vase I transfigured, and in doing so, caught a glimpse of a fluttering paper stuck under my pillow. Excitement now filling me, I picked it up and identified it as the note I had been looking for. "For an inexcusable absence...." Was all it read. Huh? A suspicion picked at the back of my brain, but only for an instant. Just then, Ginny burst into the room, closely followed by Angelina.

"Hermione, what is this about roses for you and no note?" I gestured and it was followed by Ginny's squeal and gasp from Professor McGonagall.

"Ms. Granger what is this? Where did those come from? Though, if I do say so myself, they are lovely." Smiling a bit self consciously, I answered,

"I haven't a clue where they're from, or who gave them to me." And I'm not going to show you the note...."They just were on my bed when I got up here after checking up on the Hufflepuffs." As McGonagall nodded, accepting that explanation, I straightened up my bed, and fluffed out my drapes. Then a call from outside in the common room got my attention: "Hermione, hurry! Dinner's soon....and I'm starved!"

Grinning, I shook my head and left the room so that Ron could eat.

---------------------------------

For the next few days in the halls, the girls would be whispering, and I, who was flanked by Ron and Harry, would just ignore them. I did wonder whether I had been imagining things, or if i was going to get another gift, but as the days passed, and soon a week, I gave up. There was too much work filling the ever-lengthening days at Hogwarts, and this year, we would be tested for NEWTS. As my schedule slowly turned into routine, the planning for the school trip sessions commenced. We were starting to plan the transportation, and all agreed portkeys would work the best. However, there was arguments about not being able to sightsee if there was portkeys. That's when I turned to Malfoy and asked what would be a good way of transportation. Of all the nerve: He shrugged and said,

"Apparation." And when I said it wasn't possible for the majority of the group he said, "Then why'd you ask me?" Ugh. What a great guy to lean on when the situation gets tough. So, diplomatically, I offered the train, or portkeys----one would take more planning than others.

"Hermione, wouldn't it be more logical if there was the train because of the amount of magic involved with the portkeys?" Luna asked.

"You are correct. I never thought about it. Is everyone in agreement?" As the consensus was yes, the train would be better, there was some muttering in the Slytherin groups. I chose to ignore this. However, Draco never contributed during the evenings, at each planning session. After this particular episode, I drew him aside afterwards to soundly berate him.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? You're supposed to contribute and provide an example for them to follow!" As his lips curved into a smug smile, I continued, "Why aren't you doing anything? For God's sake, you're head boy!" He retorted,

"And since I am, I don't need to be bossed about by you! I choose what I want to do, and when I do it!" His face got closer to mine as he continued, "I think this trip is a stupid, lame idea! What's the point? Where will we go? How many people would really want to do this? If it doesn't have anything school related, what will really happen?" Flushing, I yelled,

"If you HAD been paying attention, you would have seen it makes us go to places mentioned in history, where half the people don't even pay attention to in class! If we go, maybe some of us who DON'T take notes in history (Cough Ron, Harry....) would understand what happened!" Malfoy bent over, and for a dizzying second I thought that he was going to be kissing me. Instead, he spoke close to my ear, stirring my hair with his breath,

"I don't give a hell. So get off my back Granger." With that, he glided out of the room. For an odd reason, my breath was coming out shallowly, most likely due to my anger boiling inside of me, and I gestured rudely after him. Sighing, I straightened out the room just as Harry walked in.

"Hermione, what's up with Malfoy? He was banging around the hallway....it was so bad I thought that Peeves was there!" Grimly I looked into Harry's green eyes and said,

"Malfoy is just being a git. He isn't helping me lead the sessions of planning for the all school trip we're going on."

"Really? That's bloody brilliant! Maybe we could study for our NEWTS on the trip." At Harry's enthusiastic expression, my mood lightened.

"Exactly my point! But that lead headed bloke just doesn't get it!!!!" With that, I sighed and straightened up. "Let's get out of here." I headed to the door, navigating through the plush chairs, long tables, and in the dim lighting, almost missed a flash of a paper. Picking it up, I noticed it was in Malfoy's handwriting.

"What have you got there Hermione?" Harry drew to my side.

"I think that it's something a person dropped. Let's go." I was surprised by my reluctance to show Harry the note. When we finally reached the common room, and Harry headed up to the boy's dormitory, and I sank down into the sofa and closely examined the bit of paper that had Malfoy's handwriting. Ha! It was a section of the notes I had passed out, and he had little suggestions written on it _to improve_ it! Wow. Turning it over, there was a crossed out, smudged heart, with his name and another girl's name. Peering closer, I was able to make out an E, M, I, O, and E. Wait. Was that an H? Sighing in frustration, I stuck the paper into my pocket and headed up to my dorm.

"Wormtail."

A small sniveling man, with a glowing white hand stepped out of the shadows into the only illuminated spot in the room. Executing a sharp bow, he replied, "Yes Milord?"  
"Have we received word from our spy?"

Swallowing nervously, Wormtail replied, "No Milord. The servant is still not familiar with the functions of the castle."

Voldemort's cold voice got colder. He snapped, "No one informed the spy of the layout of the castle?"

Even more nervously, Wormtail replied, "Malfoy was to do it sir. I see he neglected to perform that task."

"Then I will summon him." There was a pause, and, "It is done." After a few moments, when Wormtail melted into the shadows, boot scuffs became audible. A flash of blonde hair, and a brief deprivation of the moonlight announced Malfoy's arrival.

"Malfoy." There was warning in Voldemort's tone. Lucius tensed.

"Yes Milord?" A long, tense silence followed his question. Just as sweat became visible on Lucius's brow, Voldemort stated,

"You did not train your spy adequately enough. I have received word that the spy isn't able to report for they _get lost._ You will pay." As Lucius blanched, a word came, "Crucio."

His scream filled the night and miles away, Harry's hand flew up to his scar.

**And the plot thickens....somewhat. R&R please!** _whereintheworldaremyshoes or if you prefer, Amy _


	5. Breathless and confused

It was two days after our meeting with the prefects and I still hadn't found the courage to ask Malfoy about that scrap of parchment I picked up. I had avoided him, not sure what to think about his lack of responsibility and I was also worried about Harry.

A few minutes after I had picked up the parchment and entered the common room to get to bed, Harry had squeaked (okay, squawked), with his hand on his scar. He had recovered quickly, but only now, were the "attacks" frequent. He had admitted that they had increased during the summer, in both frequency and strength. Shaking my head to clear it from these, "unpleasant thoughts" (so quipped from Ginny), I sighed and stared at the roses on the vase next to my bed.

Unlike normal roses, these roses showed no sign of wilting, the same shade of red it had been the day I picked them up off my bed and carefully placed them in a crystal vase, which had been the perfect size for them. The petals still gave off their fragrant scent. A voice interrupted my thoughts.

"Hermione, there's someone at the common entrance." Ginny edged in. "It's Malfoy. He said there's something important,"(a look of disbelief at this word flicked across her face), "to be discussed." All the while, she was turning redder until I interrupted,

"Ginny, what's wrong?" Her reply came faster than a hurricane.

"Ooooh those bloody prats! When the knock came, and they opened the portrait, they flew right at him! Arrogant as he is, he still didn't need that!" Darn. Harry and Ron still didn't forgive Malfoy for the little prank he supposedly pulled on Dobby just the week before. Dobby was still recovering from the biting sock that he had "mistakenly" taken from the Slytherin common room. (I had been just as upset, but I REALLY was distracted).

"Okay Ginny, I know you have a soft sport for most boys," dodges slap aimed at arm, "but I'm actually happy you look at people in another perspective." By that time, we had reached the portrait. "Now if you'll excuse me..." I began in a lofty tone (for the benefit of a certain redhead bandaging a certain green-eyed excuse for a boy's knuckles), "I have to attend to Head Girl duties." Glaring at the back of the heads of Ron and Harry, I turned and caught Ginny's look of amusement flick across her face just as Ron immaturely stuck his tongue out at me. Harry merely rolled his eyes exasperatedly.

Stepping outside the portrait, I ran into Malfoy. SarcasticallyAs graceful as I am...the biggest klutz in the universe, I tripped and fell towards the hall stones. Then a strong hand caught my arm and hauled me up, a lot less roughly than I would have expected.

"Recovered enough Granger?" drawled Malfoy. Flushing, I retorted without realizing (all the meanwhile dusting off my robes),

"Yes thankyouverymuch. I'm sorry, did I add to your collection of bruises?" Finally looking up, I saw guilt? flash across his face before it was replaced by his usual sneer. Then, totally surprising me, he muttered,

"By the end of this year, I'll be so black and blue from the Dream Team, I could be mistaken for a kidney pie." Now louder and enunciating clearly, he turned to, "I wanted to show you a diagram that I put together of the trip planning schedule, and what we should, and will," a hard look crossed his face at that, "talk about." Shoving the parchments at me, he stood while I wandered down the hall to a bench in an alcove (which had been previously occupied cough), all the while examining the documents. They were really quite extraordinarily organized, in his neat, precise handwriting (why did that bother me?), from relatively common sense topics (like bathroom organizing) to more complicated pros-and-cons of organizing the leaders for each group, and which groups would benefit from whom.

"These are really excellent Malfoy. When did you do them?" I looked up at him, having heard him walk to stand in front of me. Wow, was he handsome....oh bother this is Malfoy Hermione- Get a Grip!!!! He had the grace to look embarrassed before looking down and saying,

"After the meeting. I realized the meetings would go more smoothly----," abruptly he broke off, straightening up and saying, "You know Granger, I'll make a copy so we can discuss this later." I too had heard the voices approaching the portrait hole, and sighing I said,

"Okay. Meet me in the library 2 hours before our next meeting with the prefects," (which was two nights from now), "We'll discuss ideas I've jotted down, and how to incorporate them into your outline." Malfoy nodded stiffly. As he collected his papers I handed back to him, I stood up to go back into the common room. Again, I nearly collided into him, but instead, we ended up brushing against each other. With reluctant apologies, and a glare, he left. That brush had left me breathless as if I had raced up a moving staircase. I have got to get over animal attraction!!!

I stepped into the portrait hole, colliding with Ron and Harry. Before they could say something, I looked past into the room and on the couch, Ginny was in a state of tears. The guilty looks on their faces confirmed my guess as to who had reduced her to that state.

"Hermione----," began Ron apologetically.

"Ugh, not now Ron." I interrupted. "Bloody geezes you two, since when do you make girls cry?" At least Harry had the grace to look abashed (Ron looked confused). The cushions were warm as I sat down next to Ginny. "Now what's up with them Gin?" I soothed her, patting her back after I had pulled her into hug. Stifling her sobs, Ginny just shoved a package into my hand before whispering, "I think I know who this is from, but it was delivered by Dobby--that got Harry, Ron and me arguing. Everyone left the common room..." Sure enough, the large normally cheerful-loud-boisterous-common room was empty and silent except for the occasional popping and snapping in the fireplace as the fire consumed the wood. Ginny soon left, "tired from her arguing" (or so she claimed) and I sat back.

Just then, a house-elf appeared. She was carrying a brush and broom. Looking at me, I thought I saw a flash of annoyance cross her face as she squeaked (quite boldly I may add),

"Miss you should be in bed! Mite's supposed to clean!" Nodding I gathered my things and the package that Ginny had given to me. As I headed up the stairs, I glanced back and uneasily realized that Mite was still staring at me with her large unwavering eyes. I reached for the door of my dorm, opened, then quietly closed it. After I had settled down and was about to go to sleep, I remembered the package. As quietly as I could, I opened it. On a nest of snowy white plush, lay a glistening lion on a chain.

"Success milord!" Wormtail crowed. "We just received an owl form our spy: 'Gryffindor house infiltrated. Plan continuing.'"

"Excellent." breathed Voldemort leaning back in his stuffed chair, and lacing his fingers together. His sinister red eyes reflected the dancing flames in the fireplace. "Excellent....."

_-speaks to the seemingly non-existent audience-_

_Okay, this story is moving hopefully....So Sorry it took so long! I've had to finish up the cross country season, work on science fair, manage physics, etc. Let me know what you think!!!! **R&R**_ please!

_-whereintheworldaremyshoes_


	6. Chances and Miracles

There's a window

that lets out light

but hides the shadows

of an empty room

then it breaks

and the shattered glass doesn't hurt

anyone

but the one window

but the greatest

sin committed

is when that window is

closed.

permanently.

I sighed. My unoccupied hand unconsciously stroked the chain that held the lion pendant. It had been a tough two days evading questions about my necklace, and I wasn't looking foward to a certain meeting session that was scheduled for tonight. It was even worse sitting at the table with a silent, fuming, snappish Ron, strained Harry, an overwrought Ginny, and a silent Alexandra. I knew it was bad when Alexandra, a chatterbox, was silent. I had finally broken the silence with,

"Boys." I spat all the disgust I could into that word. Harry was startled, and Ron, as taciturn as he was, fell off the bench (later he claimed that I had startled him out of his 'reverie'). Alexandra gasped, wide eyed, and Ginny merely grinned. "Guys, bloody hell just get over it. You act like Malfoy is the most evil git in the world. That's old news _you_ gits. Grow up and act like the sixteen year olds you are. Better than this. Think about it." Getting up, and gathering my books, I shot a disdainful look over my shoulder. "And maybe Malfoy is a better git than you guys think he is." At their gaping fish faces, I turned on my heel, running out of the great hall into...speak of the devil. Before I could think of a nasty remark, he started without his usual sneer and malice,

"I heard that. I don't whether to be insulted, or flattered." I felt the blood rush to my cheeks as the memory flared. Malfoy drew a deep breath and as emotions ran in circles on his face, he looked away. He looked so vulnerable at the moment, doubt entered my mind if he was really an evil git. He looked just like a lost little boy. An overwhelming desire came over me just to hug him. Instead, I patted him on the arm and as a tingling flashed up my hand, he looked up startled.

"Well, Malfoy, let's hope that you don't prove me wrong." His eyes flashed, looking remarkable like Harry at that moment before he grinned (what???) and said,

"I can't get predictable Granger...." He turned walked away, replacing that gorgeous grin with his usual almost-bored look. Oh bloody badgers...I was falling for Malfoy. I knew it from my still-tingling hand. Immediately, his looks of hatred, his spat, "Mudblood!", and that perfected arrogant look flashed through my head. Was it possible that I could give him a chance? I thought of what I had written earlier. Was I pushing away all I cared about, even people, and emotions? Was I slowly turning into a wooden doll...devoid of emotion. Almost like a robot in my motions and decisions.

I DON'T WANT THAT!

I almost reeled from the certainty of that thought. The faces of the people I cared about whirled in my head. Alexandra, with all her mischievous looks, long black Asian hair, but the English freckles on her face. How her face lit up when someone said something funny, and her laugh that made it sound like that was the first time she'd heard it. Her remarkable patience, her chattering, her originality. Unbidden, Malfoy's face came into my mind.

He had the silky blonde hair, the je ne sais quoi look, pain deep in those deep grey eyes, arrogant facade, his teasing tone from only a few minutes before, and those emotions...one had almost been regret. Did he deserve this?

Then what Harry had said only a year ago, "People who are evil are rotten throughout. Like a rotten apple. But the most ugly apple could be the one that makes you drool when it's cut open and you see the perfect fruit. 'Mione, if people judged people by their looks, their facades, if books were judged by covers, then nothing, nothing, would ever bind them to their destiny. And chance. And, the gift of Mercy. Everyone, (excepting Voldemort) deserves mercy. But that's what my mother thought. She gave her life for me....mercy. No one can take away your hopes and dreams...." Harry's green eyes, his giving heart, his consciousness, his love for his friends (and Alexandra), his passion, and determination buoyed me up the stairs leading to the Gryffindor common room.

As I stepped through the portrait, Ginny, with her fiery temper, and sense to protect the smallest came flashing into my mind. She was so like her compassionate, older brothers, and her family, who protected each other with love and justice. Ron and his temper had made him rash, but his courage and loyalty would never waver when the toughest time came. For a true moment, I loved my friends so much, it hurt to see their gaping fish faces in my mind now.

I went flying down the stairs, straight into the arms of Malfoy. I struggled to free myself, pushing away at him, exclaiming,

"Honestly Malfoy! I'm in a hurry."

"Really? Where? To beg your prat friends for forgiveness? Tough for them. They have to live with their decisions, just as everyone else does. Maybe, just maybe, I may not be who I am. Did you or any others think of that before labeling me as the rich, self-absorbed, git?" His face, angular and flushed, resumed its disdainful look. "What would I want to do with the opinions of mudbloods and muggle lovers though? Isn't it enough I have to breathe the same air as them?" As he was turning away, my blood built, and I grabbed his shoulder. When he turned around startled, I released the clip that was holding back my anger, and more importantly, my clenched fist. And for the third time in my life, I punched Malfoy.

"Mudbloods may not be pure....but we have pride too!" I whirled, and stalked down the hall. I heard him mutter almost intelligibly,

"And can pack a punch too." Louder, he said, "See you tonight Granger!" Oh hell. Where did the day go. I merely gave him one last look over my shoulder before slamming the Gryffindor portrait.

Two hours before the meeting

What had I been thinking? This is the most important meeting for Malfoy and I to settle our differences. Then it was a minute, then two, then He stepped through the library door scanning the room for me. As his eyes settled on me, triumphantly, I gave him my most haughty look. What was that prat thinking when he had insulted me to my face? Striding towards me, he gestured to the room in the back. I shook my head. He gave a shrug and continued.

When I slammed the door open of that room, my eyes widened in surprise.

"Dinner awaits you my fair lady." What? Malfoy bowed me into the room. The candles that had first captured my attention were sparkling off the silverware and champagne glasses that occupied the table. On the table were white ceramic plates with gold filigree, and dishes upon dishes of delicacies. The tablecloth was an ornate woven gold, and the fireplace crackled merrily in the fireplace. As Malfoy pulled out the chair for me he glanced at my expression, chuckled, and said, "Surprise." He was totally surprised when I walked up to him and stabbed him in the chest with my finger.

"What the hell is going on Malfoy?" He answered nonchalantly,

"Dinner."

"What do you think you're doing? WHO do you think you are?" My anger was back now. He retorted somewhat heatedly,

"I'm Draco, if you would kindly call me that. And I'm giving you a present. Like all the other one's." His hand gestured to the necklace. I stood stock still that that. Hidden pieces of snatched bits of looks, conversations, the parchment scrap, the note. They all crumbled up into the serious face of Malfoy. Was it possible. Could he care?

"Why?" I whispered. "All those years, and time, and injuries..." He winced at that. I said more softly, "When?"

Looking totally uncomfortable, and unbelievably like an anxious, gawky, shy boy who just asked a girl out, he answered,

"I....when you first punched me, it felt like I actually deserved that. That's when I asked what the hell I was doing. What had _you_ done to me? I couldn't stop thinking about it. But now, I guess that I'm different." He looked up. Almost shyly, he said, "You know, your going to start collecting things in your mouth if it keeps hanging open like that." I snapped it shut. Sighing, I slumped into the nearest chair (the one he had pulled out earlier) and smiled.

"Well, what's done is done. No point in wasting the food." Grinning, he pushed his hair out of his eyes and said,

"What first? The pheasant or salad?" Pointing to the salad, we started our meal.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!" A flying stool flew past Wormtail as he shuffled quickly out of the room. "Where in the hell is Malfoy???? His son is promised to me now!!!! I Despise tardiness." From the quickly retreating back of Wormtail came the thought,

'I guess even the most powerful wizards go through tantrums...' An owl flew in through the almost invisible fissure. Wormtail glanced up, released the letter, took the owl back to the entrance and tethered it to the perch. He called,

"Milord a message: 'It is harder to release Draco from the one who controls Hogwarts. I will come with my boy as soon as I can. However, there is good news. -Lucius' A newspaper clipping fluttered out of the envelope. Wormtail picked it up and started to smile.

**To the definitely empty auditorium:**

**And the plot thickens.....Somewhat. It's about time that Draco admitted it...**

_-whereintheworldaremyshoes_

Next to come: What do they do next? And Peeves discovers a rat.


	7. Joke Merciless

I sat in the firelit room, taking in my surroundings and thoughtfully munching a chocolate eclair, one of my most favorite desserts. How in the world did Malfoy, whom I despised and surprisingly misjudged, fall for me, someone smarter than he, and more importantly, a "Mudblood"? The subject of my thoughts was two feet away, with his back to the fireplace, studying my face intently. He broke the silence first.

"Well Gra-- Hermione," He fidgeted, his fingers playing nervously with the scarlet tassels on the armrest. I nearly smiled to see the all confident Draco Malfoy acting like a nervous little boy who had done something wrong. "What'd you think? I had to ask to find the kinds of things you liked...Dobby told. It was crazy, keeping people from knowing..." He babbled on until I smiled and said,

"I liked it very much. Thank you. This is as good as a restaurant dinner." His voice trailed off, his mouth hanging open. I grinned and commented, "You know dust will begin to collect in your mouth if you keep doing that. It wouldn't be the greatest thing either...imagine dust balls. Then you'd have to spit it out...and it'd probably be like Mrs. Norris and her hair balls. Have you ever seen that?" He grimaced and then smiled. A real smile, not a smug smile, or even a smirk. This was the first time I saw him, as an individual and as a true teenager struggling with who he was. There was a flash of panic in his eyes, he sat up, and he smirked. It was enough of a change that I dropped my eclair on the plate in front of me.

"What are you doing here Granger? I thought I told you to leave. Or are you admiring what you'd never have?" What? Hmmm...

"I also happen to remember you told me where to find the book I was looking for Malfoy. I needed it for ancient runes." I snapped partially from my anger and frustration that Malfoy, out of all people, wasn't open to civility with me among strangers, and partially to play along. Standing up abruptly, and promptly knocking down my high-backed chair (making his smirk get wider), I turned, nearly running into the house elf that I had seen earlier in the Gryffindor Common Room, Mite. She was in front of the librarian, Madame Pince, as if leading her to a crime scene.

"What is going on in here? Why are these chairs and tables rearranged?" demanded Madame Pince. I was afraid of answering her next question. However, there was none. I heard another small voice squeak,  
"Sir, mister sir, you are in my way! You were working on the project, and Dobby missed a spot! Now Dobby must also rearrange the chairs and tables sir! Please move sir!" I spun around and gaped. The table was spotless and Dobby was dusting Malfoy, as well as the chair he sat on. To my delight, he looked less than pleased. Scowling, he stood up, nearly upsetting Dobby, and glowered. The room suddenly seemed a few degrees colder as his eyes narrowed hiding his ice blue eyes. He swept out of it, and with a last glance, looked at me. There was a plea in his eyes for me to understand why. I smiled coldly at him. Spinning around, I followed his lead grabbing the alleged book I was looking for as I passed the bookshelf by the door.

The next few days, we avoided each other. I struggled with my feelings, of regret, and confusion. Did I like Malfoy? My silence and lack of cheerfulness caught the notice of my dearest friends...Harry and Ron both. They were convinced that I had gotten a bad grade or was struggling to keep up with my notes. Or just plain exasperated. But they were mostly convinced that the upcoming NEWTS were causing me to be over my head in parchment...resulting in their manhandling me all the way down to Hogsmeade the very next weekend.

I'd made an excuse, which I thought was pretty convincing, "Guys, I'm busy. Headgirl stuff...you know the trip?" They just had looked at each other, and at some hidden signal, grabbed my arms, and dragged me to my dorm.

"Okay Herms, you've got 5 minutes to get your gold, cloak, and something to carry everything in. We're paying a trip to Honeydukes and more importantly, Zonko's..." That last comment was Ron's.† I almost was tempted to just mention, "What about Madame Ros..." My thoughts were interrupted by an arrival of a very familiar owl. My family's owl...I'd take care of the letter later...only that another owl hopped in. It was a small owl, a little bigger than Pig, and it bore a little note. There's only one person who would be so bold...

"Hey what's taking so long? You're time is up!" Quickly, I grabbed the note, shoved the owl out of the window (following came a long hoot of surprise and the owl shot up past my window) and turned around quickly, just pausing to grab my coat, a bag, and some sickles. THEY came barging in, grabbed me, dragged me down the steps, and manhandled me to the Great Hall.

"Okay guys! Lemme go...I'm coming. I got an owl from my parents, and I had to get it. Talk about impatient..." Still muttering I again, as I had done at the train station, walked right into Malfoy. He whirled around, took one look, his glance sliding past me as insignificant, and rested on Harry and Ron.

"What, couldn't bring your dear owl Weasel? Oh wait, you must loan off of Potty to get some candy...poor ickle Weasely can't even get his own chocolate!" Ron swung, low, and hard. Where I was: I got caught in between. So, for the third or fourth time in my life, I hit Malfoy. And kicked Ron. Needless to say, they backed off eyeing me. They assumed innocent expressions as Professor McGonagall swept past, raising her eyebrows skeptically and as she hurried to break up a fight between two third years halfway down the line from us, I gave Malfoy a 'back off mister' look. Malfoy, avoiding me, slipped past, passed Ron (who gave a sound in between a mad bull snort and an exhalation causing me to giggle...uh oh a glare) and got in line next to Pansy Parkinson. I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

Soon, we were entering the outskirts of Hogsmeade, and the sun on the snow became blinding. "_Blinducos_" I muttered. The sun became less blinding and I rode in comfort as Ron and Harry crammed into the darkest corner.

Time to uphold my reputation as a know it all. Though why these guys stuck by me through it all I can't guess why..."You two. I swear. This is a good charm. Why aren't you using it?" The two clueless guys across from me in the rocking carriage shrugged. "Honestly. Is it the same thing as why guys don't or Won't ask for directions?" More shrugs. Oh well. I surveyed the view, visibly turning my attention away from a soon to be chattering Ron and a silent pale Harry. We had just passed the lake, which I could see fairies giggling about, swooping and tickling the giant squid. Occasional splashes from the merpeople caught my attention, and I saw their leader speaking, once in a while glancing at the carriages. Was he talking about us? I wonder if Dumbledore...The rocking of the carriage combined with the warm sunlight was soporific.

I woke up later as the carriages were coming to a halt outside The Three Broomsticks. Students, scrambled out of the carriages, some slipping and sliding on the melting ice, and others, more dignified with their steps. Harry, usually the one to hop out and hold the door open for me, let Ron beat him, and just slid out and looked. Bother, this probably brought back more memories of Sirius. Hmmmm. "Ron, didn't you say that your brothers extended their business out to Hogsmeade? Is it possible that they could be here just to er, how do you put it nicely, torture us?" Ron grinned and said,

"Well if you hadn't been snoring in the carriage, you would have heard me mention that I got an owl from them just this morning doling out their autumn greetings and then having the flyers in my envelope fly around the school for the rest of breakfast." Oh. So that's what the flyers that had been dipping in and out of the syrup were doing. "Speaking of which, Harry, there's a new trick item the twins want you to test on Dudley..." Harry grinned, remembering the fateful visit of Mr. Weasely, during which the ton-tongue toffee was tested.

"Lead on Ron. I can't wait to see what it is. Hey Hermione, after..." Then again, maybe the twins would be the perfect shrinks for Harry. Their motto, "Keep 'em laughing, keep 'em happy." was proving right. Now no one saw anyone who didn't own a FRED&GEORGEW product. I still had one of what turned out to be a limited edition of a parrot. It squawked out obscenities everytime you touched the wing. Apparently the, "Cornelius Fudge fudged everything up You-Know-What!" wasn't approved by the ministry, actually the Minister. And countless other new items like the fly-zipper which never closed. Oh it did, but it didn't stay that way. Or the classic dribble glass which somehow instead of a dribble it was a downpour.

As we wove through the throngs of students and strangers, Harry's face showed an ever widening grin of anticipation. Zonko's was crowded as always, but then when wasn't it. But there was a line to enter the shop across the street- Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. An occasional customer walking out of the shop was biting into a product, where shortly thereafter, bursting into a multicolored bird. Apparently, the twins had figured a way to improve their canary creams. It was now a Guess What Bird? Cream. The closer we got, the more chickens, parrots, ducks, and canaries we had to dodge.

Luckily for us, the greeters weren't just any old greeters. They were accomplices of Fred and George. They recognized us, and shooed us in among remarks of, "Hey you Harry." and "Looking as gorgeous as always Hermione." Smooth talkers.

"Harry!" Two identical grins spread across their faces as if a true brother came home. In a way, it was like that. The past summer the twins had somewhat adopted Harry as their newfound best brother. They treated him like their sponsor, which Harry had confessed, he was. And they also treated him like there was nothing wrong, always cracking jokes but tactfully, not about Sirius. It proved to be an effective method of cheering Harry up. But as they attended to business, he sat dejected, on the foot of the grand staircase of their office building, and staring out the glass doors into the crowded Diagon Alley's streets. There we would often find him, and then drag him into the experiment rooms, where we'd see what was assured by the twins, well-paid volunteers trying out the new products. The Doxies the twins had taken were turned into wind-up doxies, where they were wound up, and placed somewhere, where someone would eventually get bitten.

"Mate how's it been?" Fred came up and clapped Harry on the back while George was dealing with a no-return policy returnee. Apparently, the Can-what-you-wish vanishing snack can wasn't working properly, and the snacks, instead of vanishing, were multiplying. The skinny witch was waving the can around, spouting Bertie Bott's every flavor beans all around. Fred shook his head. "Dratted blasted lady. She comes everyday waving around a what did she call it? Oh yes, a 'freaking out not properly done product'. It strikes us as funny because it only happens to her. We believe she's trying to change our products to suit her needs, but..." Harry grinned and I smiled weakly. "So, on to business. No, Ron you don't want to touch those." Ron took his hands away from the pile of feathers. "Butober pus feathers...lend them to your enemies and don't worry about being caught." Fred grinned slightly. "Popular among ministry workers...we've had ten shiploads sent to a certain Skeeter in the department of..." He was interrupted when Pigwideon flew into his head. Ron groaned. "Honestly Ron, haven't you trained your owl to fly better? What happened to those treats we sent Pig that were supposedly supposed to fix his (as we had found out also that summer) vertigo?" Ron looked a little annoyed.

"Dratted Percy. He took the treats saying they were for Hermes, and that since he had er, how had he put it? Oh yes, come to realize his mistakes, but was unfortunately, still the son who had the most going for him, the treats were for him, despite my repeated attempts to get him to read the, 'To the owl who can't fly and when he does, can't land.'. I should have asked if Hermes could fly." Fred grinned. I had a vague feeling he knew that was going to happen. "Hmmm. Canary creams were tucked into there as well. We cough extended the effect so I guess Mr. Percy sir would have had a canary to deliver his messages instead of an owl." We all looked at each other's faces. Only Ron was really having a kick out of this. Speaking of which.

"Ron, why is Pig here?" Ron pulled the parchment from Pig's leg and glanced at the address.

"Fred. It's for you and George. From Percy." Fred grinned and pocketed the letter, 'for laughs' later.

"Now, I was starting to lead you three to the ultimate new invention by yours truly." his bravado amused me, though, as we walked into the back of the shop, and through a couple of aisles of stacked crates, it became less amusing as we approached a large covered object. Fred whipped off the covering to reveal...a stack of comic books?

"Honestly Fred, what's this about?" Harry stepped forward and grabbed one. "Oh no...Fred if this goes on sale, you'll be so dead." I grabbed the comic from Harry and grinned. On the cover was, 'The adventures of Sir Harry, Lord Ron, and the villain...Count M.' Oh who could Count M be. I didn't need to glance at the rest of the comics to see what the stories were about. "Fred, before you give a subscription out, I think we need to pass them out among the school, as an advertisement..." Fred glanced at Harry surprised. Harry nodded slowly, his face cracking into a grin. "Yes, this is what we need exactly." I sighed and surprised them by saying,

"When?"

The view from the hidden cave was a spectacular one. The village of Hogsmeade shown in the morning light, and a brave sunray stabbed at the carriages piling into the already awake village.

"Milord?" Wormtail's head poked through the adjoining cavern. "We've received word. Our spy has laid the first trap for the Granger girl in her chest. It will no doubtedly attract Potter's attention."

There came the sound of laughter, sinister and silent, but soon filling the network of caverns, as Lord Voldemort celebrated the end to the long wait.

**It's been a while. I apologize. Poor Hermione. She doesn't know what's planned for her. Maybe an introduction of a hero? A soon to be boyfriend maybe... R&R please?**

_whereintheworldaremyshoes_


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